How MP John Stonehouse's Reggie Perrin-style faked death stunned British politics 40 years ago - Mirror Online News How MP John Stonehouse's Reggie Perrin-style faked death stunned British politics 40 years ago It's 40 years this week since John Stonehouse stunned the nation by faking his death, leaving Miami detectives probing his Reggie Perrin-style disappearance Share Bizarre disappearance: John Stonehouse faked his death and fled to Australia (Photo: Mirrorpix) Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email An MP stunned British politics when he left a pile of clothes on a Miami beach leaving authorities to believe he'd either drowned or been eaten by sharks. So convinced were police and peers of his death that a minute's silence was held in Parliament. It's 40 years this week since John Stonehouse's Reggie Perrin-style faked death, reports the Birmingham Mail .

On November 20, 1974, the Member of Parliament for Walsall North took drastic action to free himself from the millstone of debt and spectre of prosecution that weighed heavier with each day But while Florida detectives investigated his demise in Miami, Stonehouse was 10,000 miles away in Australia starting a new life with a new identity. The shamed politician was now Joseph Markham, the deceased husband of a constituent. Stonehouse’s story, peppered with political intrigue and espionage, would grace the pages of any John le Carre novel. It’s even intertwined with the disappearance of Lord Lucan . It was not, however, the inspiration for popular comedy series, The Rise and Fall of Reggie Perrin, starring Leonard Rossite r. Author David Nobbs’ tale of a Sunshine Desserts salesman who faked his demise was written five months before the Stonehouse saga began. Stonehouse, who died in 1988 aged 62, may have been lacking in moral fibre, but there’s no doubting his old-fashioned front.

Back in Blighty: John Stonehouse, left, is accompanied by Scotland Yard's DCS Ken Etheridge on his return to England after faking his death (Photo: Mirrorpix) When police Down Under arrested him on Christmas Eve, 1974, and discovered that news of his 'death' were somewhat premature, he penned a letter of explanation to the Foreign Office . “My wish was to be released from the incredible ­pressures being put on me, particularly in my business activities and various attempts at blackmail,” Stonehouse wrote. “I considered, clearly wrongly, that the best action I could take was to create a new identity and attempt to live a new life away from these pressures. I suppose this can be summed up as a brainstorm or a mental breakdown.” More than anything else, Stonehouse’s story is a lesson in the perils of unbridled ambition: a man destroyed by his thirst to become rich. Loyalty to Queen and country certainly didn’t stand in his way. In 1980, a Czech defector alleged the rogue former MP had been a spy, but Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decided against action.

The son of a former Southampton mayoress, he first sprung to political prominence in 1957 when elected as Labour Co-operative MP for Wednesbury. Stonehouse’s rise through the political ranks was rapid and in 1968 he joined the cabinet as Postmaster General. But storm clouds were gathering. Labour lost the 1970 general election and Stonehouse was not picked for Harold Wilson’s shadow cabinet. In an attempt to boost his dwindling income, he set-up a network of 24 companies that withered as the economy dried up. He borrowed, lied to accountants and deceived business partners. The deceit wasn’t confined to Stonehouse’s business life. He had also began an affair with secretary Sheila Buckley behind wife Barbara’s back. Interest: The Birmingham Post reports on a John Stonehouse-inspired exhibition in 2002 (Photo: Birmingham Post) It is believed Stonehouse, who was at the centre of a Department of Trade and Industry probe into dodgy dealings – decided to fake his death in 1973. By the time he took the plunge, Stonehouse had accrued debts of £800,000 – almost £10 million in today’s money.

Sporting a pair of glasses to mask his appearance, the 'deceased' politician travelled from Florida to Hawaii to Oz. But greed again proved his downfall. While Down Under, Stonehouse adopted TWO identities – Joseph Markham and another dead constituent, Clive Muldoon, and opened accounts in both bogus names. Suspicious bank staff alerted police who initially thought they had found Lord Lucan: the earl also vanished in 1974 after the family nanny was found dead. Cops staked out Stonehouse’s luxury pad from December 10 before storming the building on Christmas Eve. The news of his double life was met with disbelief by a British press that had carried obituaries to the MP. The BBC reported: “The re-emergence of the MP, once tipped as a future Labour leader, on the other side of the world has stunned Parliament and his colleagues at Westminster. “A Whitehall source said his future in Parliament was uncertain but it is too early in the proceedings to comment on whether he could be expelled.” Following Stonehouse’s arrest, it was six long months before he was sent back to Britain, the extradition process hindered by a string of failed asylum bids.

Copycat crime: Stonehouse's disappearance had many similarities to the fake demise of fictional Reginald Perrin played by Leonard Rossiter (Photo: BBC) At the Old Bailey in April, 1976, the eagerly-awaited trial on charges of fraud, theft, forgery, conspiracy to defraud, causing a false police investigation and wasting police time began. It was to last 68 days and Stonehouse conducted his own defence. The old charm didn’t work on the jury – he was convicted and sentenced to seven years, while his mistress Sheila Buckley received a two-year suspended sentence for her part in the deception. Stonehouse finally agreed to resign as an MP on August 28 after being sent to Wormwood Scrubs . He endured three heart attacks while behind bars, but put a brave face on his ordeal, writing: “The opportunity to sleep nine hours a night and really relax has been extremely good for me. I ask you to disabuse yourself of any idea that prison is harmful.” His wife divorced him in 1978, but he and Sheila went on to marry three years later and have one son, James.

Stonehouse went on to write three novels and made several TV appearances, mostly in connection with discussing his disappearance. He also spent much of his retirement working for a number a charities. It was a belated selfless act from a man ruined by a selfish obsession with fame and fortune. Like us on Facebook 15 Stories of People Who Faked Their Own Deaths | TermLifeInsurance.com 15 Stories of People Who Faked Their Own Deaths Ross Quade | Death | 12 Nov, 2014 | No Comments Faking your own death is a practice that has been around for many centuries. Today, it’s much harder to indulge in such a plot, thanks to the modern marvels of technology. However, this doesn’t stop some people from giving it a shot anyway. Below, you will find the stories of 15 people who have tried to fake their own death. Some you’ll find humorous and others just plain crazy. Lord Timothy Dexter Was a Curious Man Back in 1798, a man by the name of Lord Timothy Dexter decided to fake his death because he was curious to know how people would react. He was a wealthy man who ran a successful export business, even without a formal education.

He wrote a book called A Pickle for the Knowing Ones; or, Plain Truths in a Homespun Dress. The book was difficult to read because of its lack of punctuations. One day, he decided to announce his own death. At the funeral, 3,000 people showed up, but not his wife. He announced his hoax, then proceeded to find and cane his wife for not grieving as a prominent wife should. Ken Kesey Fakes Suicide to Avoid Pot Bust This is one of the more popular faked deaths in recent history. Some still alive today may remember the incident in 1965 when Ken Kesey, author and member of The Merry Pranksters, faked his own death. The reason for his faked suicide was to avoid getting busted for marijuana. He did this by parking his vehicle in Eureka, CA and left a suicide note inside that said “Ocean, Ocean I’ll beat you in the end”. But instead of falling into the depths of the deep blue sea, he ran off to Mexico. Not even a year later, after his “death”, he returned and was sentenced to five months in jail.

Corey Taylor Was Dead Serious About Not Paying His Cell Bill A lot of us don’t like being tied into a cell phone contract and neither did Corey Taylor. Except Corey took it above and beyond by faking his death, just so that he could get out of it. He was tired of Verizon’s lackluster service and decided that he would have a friend fax in a forged death certificate to get out of his contract. However, this might’ve not been the first time they have seen this because it didn’t take them long to figure out it was a fake. And this was all for what? A $175 bill that he was forced to pay anyway. Connie Franklin: A Witness in His Own Murder Trial In the early 20th century, 1929 to be precise, a guy named Connie Franklin, and his girlfriend Tillar Ruminer, made headlines in Time Magazine after faking his own death. In this tale, Tillar was the surviving partner of Connie, who was supposedly murdered by a gang of five men who mutilated and burned his corpse. After which, Tillar claimed she was raped.

What baffled the authorities was that there was no evidence of the crime and things in her story didn’t add up. Well as it turned out, even the true part of the story was fake. Connie was actually a father of four and a mental patient that had escaped a mental hospital to start a new life. Allison Matera Attended Her Own Funeral Allison was a young girl who was a part of a circle of friends and community that was churchgoing. It’s possible she wanted out, but didn’t know how to tell them, so she lied to the choir about dying of cancer. For about a year, she continued this ruse and would occasionally give them updates about her treatment in person. Then she stopped attending church and called the pastor pretending to be a nurse and said that she died on Jan. 18, 2007. During her memorial, she showed up as Allison’s sister, but no one fell for it. Her ruse quickly came to light following them recognizing her. William Grothe Murdered Himself William Grothe was a music attorney who decided to fake his murder back in November of 2008, so that he could get his hands on the $1 million from his life insurance policy.

He left his wallet and leather jacket on the side of a river, along with a grocery bag of other items. The police figured it to be a homicide until William contacted the police pretending to be the killer. Voice recognition technology busted his case, which was matched using his outgoing voicemail message. He was then found in Missoula, Montana, where he was fined and ordered to pay $13k for the cost of his search. Sister Aimee McPherson Fakes Going to Jesus Another churchgoing lady, but slightly more popular, was Aimee McPherson. In the 1920s, she preached to a pulpit of 5,000 people regularly, until one day, her mother claimed that she was with Jesus after being lost in the currents of Venice Beach. About a month later, Aimee showed up fully clothed (a clue to her lies) in Douglas, Arizona, where she claimed she was kidnapped, ransomed and held in a shack down in Mexico. Things in her story didn’t match up when the shack she was held in couldn’t be found. She was charged with perjury, but after a trial, she was cleared of all charges.

Man Fakes Death and Starts a New Life Gandaruban Subramaniam was a man from Singapore who owned a car rental business in 1987 that was tanking. Instead of sticking around to witness his finances plummet, he ran away to Sri Lanka, where he obtained a fake death certificate, which placed his death in a shootout during the local civil war. He then had his wife move there after she collected $250,000 in insurance money and they got married again and had their fourth child. In 2007, 20 years later, he was caught trying to get back into Singapore, arrested and eventually sentenced to three years in prison. Elvis Helps Bust Hugo Jose Sanchez’s Fake Death Stint Hugo Sanchez was a poor man trying to get by. One day, he decided to fake his death, so that his wife could collect his pension checks. The company he worked for, HMV, a British retail giant, even flew his family down to Costa Rica where his supposed memorial would be. He met his family there and were free and clear until his friend tried to use his HMV discount card to buy an Elvis Presley CD.

He was taken down to the police station, where he called Sanchez, who hung up. The plot was quickly unraveled by investigators, who arrested Hugo and his friend, who are both currently serving jail time for the ruse. Bennie Wint Pretended to Be Dead for 20 Years for No Reason Simply because Bennie Wint thought he was a wanted man, he went off for a swim in 1989 and never came back. His ex-wife, four year old son and fiancé all mourned his death because it was believed that he had drowned. However, 20 years later, he was pulled over by a cop because the light on his license plate wasn’t working, but thought he was getting busted. He confessed that he faked his death because of drug charges and was living a false life as William Sweet. He had remarried and had a 17 year old son. After a little research, Wint was never wanted, and there were no old charges in his name. Husband and Wife Tag Team a Fake Death Plot John and Anne Darwin were a married couple living in Europe. The two lived well above their means and had accrued tens of thousands of pounds of debt.

So to help them get out of their financial jam, they decided to fake John’s death. On March 12, 2002, he went out in his canoe and never returned. Over a week later, the wrecked canoe was found, but he wasn’t declared dead until February 2003, which is when Anne was allowed to collect money from his insurance policy. The two paid their debts and moved to Panama to start a new life. In December of 2007, John decided to turn himself in, claiming he had lost his memory and believed he was a missing person. Three months earlier, the police started looking into his disappearance. However, the ruse was up and they found out that he was with Anne the entire time. British Politician Fakes His Death Politicians aren’t too big to try stunts like faking their deaths—most of the time. In the case of John Stonehouse, he was worried about the Department of Trade and Industry looking into the books that he was cooking, so he moved money to other accounts and changed his identity to Joseph Markham.

He then faked his death in November, 1974, where he left a pile of his clothes on the beach making it appear as though he drowned. He moved to Australia with his mistress and was caught by a banker who noticed his money being moved under more than one name. He was arrested the day before Christmas in 1974. Composer and Conspiracy Theorist Fakes His Death Alexander Baker, also known as Ace, was an American composer and 9/11 conspiracy theorist. He believed that the 9/11 airplanes in the videos were faked. He also did a radio show on The Real Deal, which is hosted by Jim Feltzer. On the air, he made a reference to his deceased parents and asked his wife and children for forgiveness before he left the phone and gun shots were heard. He later called this stunt performance art. Famous Austrian Pianist Fakes Death then Really Dies a Year Later Friedrich Gulda was a popular pianist that was known for mixing jazz and classical music. His Beethoven interpretations were well-liked, but he was a die-hard Mozart fan. So much so that he wanted to die on Mozart’s birthday Jan. 27.

Gulda was known for having a strong dislike of authorities and was labeled the “terrorist pianist”. In 1999, he faked his death, but then died for real on Mozart’s birthday in 2000. Wannabe James Bond Fakes Death, Becomes Bestselling Author Philip Sessarago was a military man who was in The Royal Artillery. He was determined to join the SAS, but failed the test twice. He thought of himself as a James Bond, so was really disappointed when he wasn’t accepted into the SAS. He decided to fake his death in 1993, which was caused by the detonation of a land mine in Bosnia. Philip then changed his name to Tom Carew and wrote a book called Jihad! The book was serialized and on its way to becoming a best seller. It was released the day before 9/11, which gave the book great timing, since he was proclaimed to be an expert in terrorist attacks such as that one. During a television interview in 2001, his children recognized him and blew his cover.

British political scandal: The man who faked his death | The Independent UK Politics British political scandal: The man who faked his death Newly released government papers tell the behind-the-scenes story of one of the most bizarre episodes in British politics. Cahal Milmo investigates the John Stonehouse affair Thursday 29 December 2005 00:00 BST Click to follow Indy Politics The call to Melbourne police came shortly before Christmas Eve in 1974. Interpol had reason to believe Lord Lucan was in Australia and Melbourne's finest thought they had their man. Several days earlier, detectives in the Australian city had been alerted to the presence of a handsome, well-spoken but furtive Englishman who was shuttling large amounts of money into a bank account from abroad. When police pounced on their target's luxury flat on Christmas Eve, what they found was not Lord Lucan but John Stonehouse, a 48-year-old British MP and former Labour minister, whose tale was just as captivating as that of the missing peer - and had unsettling implications for the British government.

Previously unseen documents released today at the National Archives in Kew, west London, cast new light on the extraordinary saga of a man who wanted to be prime minister but ended up faking his own death, stealing the identity of a dead constituent and became the subject of a diplomatic wrangle between London and Sydney. The papers, previously kept secret under the 30-year rule, reveal how British diplomats working for Harold Wilson's Labour government obtained a confidential psychiatric report on Stonehouse as he fought extradition on fraud charges. The mystery had started on a Florida beach some 10,000 miles from Melbourne, 34 days before Stonehouse's accidental discovery by detectives looking for Lord Lucan. A pile of clothing belonging to the MP was found on a Miami waterfront after he had supposedly entered the water for a swim. Despite the absence of a corpse and FBI suspicions that the British politician, a former minister of aviation whose heavily indebted business empire stretched to 23 separate companies, had been the victim of a Mafia hit, it was rapidly accepted that Stonehouse had committed suicide. For Wilson's government, struggling to cope with an economy heading for meltdown as it entered 1975, there were more pressing matters to deal with.

In the House of Commons, a ceremonial silence was held to mark the passing of the Honourable Member for Walsall North. The idea that Stonehouse had "done a Reggie Perrin", leaving his wardrobe on a beach for a new life in the manner of the as yet unbroadcast comedy starring Leonard Rossiter, did not attract much attention in Whitehall. With inflation poised to hit 26 per cent, unemployment heading for a 30-year high and near-expulsion from the IMF looming, the Labour Party had little appetite for a major political scandal. But that is precisely what it got when Stonehouse, 48, was detained for entering Australia on a false passport in the name of Joseph Markham, a dead constituent, and masquerading as Clive Mildoon, another deceased constituent. Stonehouse, who was discovered in Melbourne with his attractive long-term mistress and former secretary, Sheila Buckley, immediately began a campaign against extradition to Britain to face fraud charges arising from his business dealings, which left a fund he set up to help Bangladeshi victims of a hurricane with £600,000 missing from its accounts.

His wife of 24 years, Barbara, was initially elated at the news of her husband's return from the dead and flew out to Australia for an emotional reunion - only to learn of Sheila Buckley's existence and her husband's betrayal. According to the new documents, the Black Country politician who fled to Australia via Hawaii, Singapore and Malaysia, rapidly set about constructing a defence, claiming he had been facing blackmail from South African business partners and suffered a "brainstorm" in Miami. In a memo sent to the Foreign Office and seen by Wilson in Downing Street, Stonehouse said: "My wish was to be released from the incredible pressures being put on me, particularly in my business activities and various attempts at blackmail. I considered, clearly wrongly, that the best action I could take was to create a new identity and attempt to live a new life away from these pressures. I suppose this can be summed up as a brainstorm or a mental breakdown." The case was manna from heaven for Fleet Street, which engaged in a mass scramble for a scoop. The Daily Express put 22 reporters on the story, including its cricket correspondent.

The News of the World dispatched nine journalists along with £15,000 in cash to buy Stonehouse's story and The Times asked its Sydney-based opera writer to get on the trail of the MP. But the British government was just as keen as the press to get to the bottom of Stonehouse's motivation and likely next moves as he attempted to avoid extradition, trial and an eventual seven-year prison sentence. By the time the time he stepped down as an MP in 1976, Stonehouse held the balance of power in Britain - his resignation put the Labour government, then headed by James Callaghan, in a minority with 315 seats compared to the 316 held by opposition parties. The papers show that British diplomats in Sydney obtained a copy of a psychiatric report commissioned by Stonehouse and submitted to the Australian authorities to support his claim that he had suffered a mental breakdown.

A summary of the profile was sent to Mr Callaghan in 1975, when he was still Foreign Secretary, together with the following warning from an unnamed official: "It is clearly important that Mr Stonehouse should not find out that we have been given an account of the contents of this report." The summary confirmed the MP's claims that it was a form of breakdown that had provoked his decision to adopt a new identity. But it also revealed that Stonehouse was a Jekyll and Hyde character who had been posing as Joseph Markham for months prior to his disappearance to provide relief from being the MP he had come to hate. The summary stated: "He believed he was ruined and evolved a bizarre scheme in 1974 to adopt a new identity. He spent short periods posing as Mr Markham, a private and 'honest' individual, which apparently led to reduced tension. He began to dislike the personality of Stonehouse and therefore devised his plan to escape." Arrest as a mistaken Lord Lucan represented the nadir of a dramatic fall for Stonehouse, the precocious son of two West Midlands Labour and Co-Operative Society activists who was only 31 when he entered the House of Commons.

He was appointed Minister of Aviation in Harold Wilson's first government at the age of 38 and then became postmaster-general. As a young man, Stonehouse displayed a radical zeal, railing against colonialism and exploitation of the developing world. In 1959, he was expelled from Rhodesia for a speech in which he urged blacks to "lift your heads high and behave as though the country belongs to you". His efforts to highlight the independence cause of Bangladesh led to an offer of citizenship when the new state was declared in 1971. Unfettered by modesty, Stonehouse declared to colleagues that his life plan was straightforward: become a millionaire and then prime minister. But despite being tipped for Cabinet, the MP's political fortunes rapidly waned. After Labour's defeat in 1970, Wilson refused to appoint Stonehouse to any shadow ministerial post and the MP dedicated himself instead to a catalogue of disastrous business ventures. By the time of his vanishing act in Florida in November 1974, Stonehouse had had debts of more than £800,000 after an attempt to set up a new investment bank in Bangladesh.

He had also taken out a £170,000 insurance policy on his own life. In Whitehall, the temptation to reduce the MP's difficulties to a lifetime of psychological flaws proved difficult to resist. The summary of the psychiatrist's report said: "The psychiatrist's opinion was that, as a child, Mr Stonehouse was anxious and withdrawn, though undoubtedly gifted. He achieved success as a young adult but at the expense of personal strain and repression of his emotional needs and his ability to communicate his true feelings. "In middle age, stresses in his career led to a degree of disillusionment with himself. Mr Stonehouse suffered significant but 'atypical depression'. He thought of suicide but, deciding this was not the answer, devised a 'suicide equivalent' - his disappearance from a beach in Miami." The documents offer little evidence of just how the leaked psychiatric report was used by Downing Street or the Foreign Office. The government dossier includes a rambling 18-page submission sent by Stonehouse to the Queen in his role as a privy councillor, protesting his innocence with a note from one official advising that it be ignored.

Despite initial reluctance to deport Stonehouse, the Australian government eventually relented to British demands that the MP face criminal charges in Britain and he was extradited in June 1975. The papers detail a series of ranting memos sent by Stonehouse to senior Labour Party figures insisting he is the victim of wide-ranging conspiracy. They include a polemic against the press with uncanny echoes of the complaints of another politician who ultimately ended up in prison, former Conservative minister Jonathan Aitken. In a letter to the then Leader of the Commons, Ted Short, Stonehouse blamed Fleet Street for his demise, writing: "Press freedom is a false god to worship: it has become a weapon in the hands of callow, cynical and completely irresponsible men who delight in undermining and destroying active people in politics and business who are the constructive and positive elements in society.

"The negativism of much contemporary journalism is a cancer in the body politic and is gradually eating away at the vitals of British democracy." The MP's trial on 18 charges of theft, forgery and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud lasted 68 days in 1976 and led to Stonehouse resigning from the Commons in August that year, forcing James Callaghan to form the Liberal-Labour pact to stay in power until Margaret Thatcher's general election victory in 1979. Suffering increasingly from a heart condition, Stonehouse served three years of his seven-year sentence before being released from prison early on grounds of health. He married Sheila Buckley and set about a new career writing books, including an autobiography entitled Death of an Idealist. He died in 1988 from a heart attack at the age of 62. The new documents suggest that Stonehouse had been broken by his experience in jail.

A letter from his brother, William, to the Home Secretary, Merlyn Rees, complained about the conditions in Blundeston Prison, said: "Now it is a sad fact that John is put to cleaning out the lavatories - a job considered 'light duties' - and he carries out these tasks with his usual thoroughness no doubt. "I am distressed that after over 30 years of 18 hours daily toil on behalf of the Labour Party, the Government and the country, John has so little support and aid in his time of need." History shows the letter went unanswered. Did Stonehouse inspire Reginald Perrin - or vice versa? When the first Reginald Perrin novel appeared in 1975, readers would have been forgiven for thinking the author had been inspired by real-life events. David Nobbs' tale of Mr Perrin, a troubled sales executive at Sunshine Desserts who stripped off his clothing on a beach in Dorset and faked his own demise, bore an uncanny resemblance to the saga of John Stonehouse. The strange behaviour of the Labour MP on a beach in Florida in November 1974 had gained such worldwide publicity that claiming ignorance would not have been a valid explanation.

But Nobbs had every reason to assert that his fiction had nothing to do with Stonehouse's fall from public grace. He had completed his first Perrin novel in June 1974, some five months before the MP had travelled to Miami. Similarly, Stonehouse cannot be accused of seeking inspiration from the books. They were published long after his arrest in Australia and attempts to seek asylum in Sweden and Mauritius before being extradited back to Britain to face fraud charges. 10 People Who Faked Their Own Death - Wonderslist WondersList by Editorial Staff Life is precious. Nobody wants to die unless your death give you a new, better life. Following are the stories of 10 people who faked their own death, to get out of their troubles, with an expectation of good life. The following list is in no particular order. 10 People Who Faked Their Own Death. 10. John Stonehouse John Stonehouse was a British Labor and co-operative party politician. He wanted to come out of his financial difficulties and live a new life with his mistress, Sheila Buckley. On 20th November, 1974, John went to swimming at Miami Beach and disappeared.

He pretended to be either drowned away or killed by shark. Since, police didn’t found his body, he presumed dead. John returned back to Australia in the same year on Christmas Eve. He was confident of his escape, but didn’t know that police was still searching for him. He was caught and in August 1976 , he was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. See Also; 10 Unsolved Mysteries of the World . 9. John Darwin John was a teacher and prison officer in Hartlepool, England who was in debt of tens of thousands of pounds. To come out this problem, he, with the help of his wife, faked his own death on 21st March 2002. John went to the sea in his canoe and disappear pretended to be drown away. His wife got the insurance money with which they paid off their debt and secretly started a new life. On December 1, 2007, John returned to the police and claimed that he had lost his memory. When investigated, police found that John was lying and he had been with his wife all the time. See Also; Top 10 Infamous Blunders of World . 8.

Chandra Mohan Sharma Chandra Mohan was a RTI (Right to Information) activist in India who fought against land mafia. He was unhappy with his married life and had an extra marital affair with a neighborhood girl, Preeti Nagar. Mohan had a life Insurance worth Rs. 300,000 and the company, where he was working that time, was obliged to pay Rs. 3,600,000 to him family in case of his death. With the help of his girlfriend and brother-in-law, Mohan executed his own murder conspiracy. He killed a homeless man, put the body in his car and set the car on fire. Everyone thought, land mafia had killed him. He fled to Bangalore living with his girlfriend where, after the month of incident, police recognized him through a CCTV footage while making a fake call to Preeti’s home. See also; 10 Ways Humans are Getting Closer to Immortality . 7. Marcus Schrenker Marcus was a financial manager and had several legal charges against him. On January 11, 2009, he took off in his own plane from Indiana to Florida.

He set the plane to autopilot and parachuted out pretending he has been dead in a crash. He landed in Alabama and flee from there with the help of local police who was unaware of the incident at that time. He stayed in a pup tent at the Quincy campground where ground’s owner found him suspected and complaint to the local police. Officials captured him there on January 13, 2009. See also; 10 Famous People Who Said Goodbye to Public Life . 6. Alison Matera Alison joined a churchgoing community with her friends and felt stuck in there. She didn’t know how to deny for this ritual, so she decide pretending to get dying from a cancer. She informed choir about her illness and avoid went to church for almost a year. Meanwhile she was updating him about her treatment. On January 18, 2007, she executed last step. She called the pastor, posing as a nurse, and informed him about her death. All the story was accepted until she went to her own funeral and pretended she is a sister. She was revealed. See Also; 10 Famous Nurses Who Made History . 5. William Grothe William had a life Insurance policy worth $1 million.

To get this money, he planned his own death with the help of her wife. On November 19, 2008, William Grothe’s wife reported police that her husband is missing. When police searched for him, they found his wallet and leather jacket alongside the river. To make the police more assured about his death, he made a fake call to police claimed of being a murderer of William. Then, police matched the voice of that fake call against William’s outgoing voicemail message. He got exposed and police found him in Missoula, Montana. He has been order to pay $13,000 which was the cost to search him. See Also; 10 Unusual Deaths of 21st Century . 4. Gandaruban Subramaniam Subramaniam was running a car rental business in Singapore. In 1987, his business shut down and left him in debt. Then, he fled from Singapore to Sri Lanka where he executed his own murder plan. Subramaniam faked his death by showing to shoot-out in a civil war and succeed to get false death certificate and almost $250,000 in insurance money.

He made fake passport and remarried to his own wife again. Using that fake passport, he visited Singapore several times until police arrested him with his fake passport in 2007. He sentenced for 3 years for this crime. See Also; 10 Most Bizarre Funeral Traditions in the World . 3. A soldier’s wife A retired army officer, Kenneth Zhangazha , was unable to see his family starving. He decided to take advantage of his wife’s life Insurance policy. Kenneth went to the bank with his wife’s policy documents and a letter written by village head confirming her death. According to the policy, Kenneth was eligible for $1000 as a claim. While the bank’s financial Advisor, Edmund Mhlanga, was in the process of informing policy department, Kenneth stopped him and accept he was lying. When Judge asked him the reason, while facing fraud charges in the court, he replied “You Worship, I wanted money to buy food.” See Also; 1 0 Celebrities You’d Forgotten Have Criminal Records . 2. Anna Gray Anna Gray met a man on an online dating site. After some time, she felt that she is not ready for this relationship.

Anna tried to break the relationship, but that man wasn’t ready for that. One day, that man messaged Anna “I think we need to have a date tonight! I’ll be around your house in 30 minutes.” Anna got scared and took an unexpected step. She pretends to be his own sister and messaged to man that Anna has been admitted to hospital last night because of some serious illness. When the man forced to meet her, she said Anna is dead. To hear this, that man stopped messaging her and never returned to her. Though he caught her after some months on one of another online dating website. See Also; 10 Most Shocking Sports Murders . 1. Lord Lucan Lord Lucan, the real name is Richard John Bingham, born in 18 December 1934. In the night of 7th November, 1974, he mistakenly killed his family nanny, Sandra Rivett, instead of his wife. When felt his mistake, he fled to his friend’s house who helped him believing he is innocent. Lucan left his car on the coast of Newhaven and pretended like he has done suicide.

He never caught, though, sighted several times in South Africa and New Zealand. Written By; Munender Singh Seriously, learn English. This is ridiculously bad Shawnizzle John Stonehouse - Ex-British Aide, 62, Faked Death in '74 - NYTimes.com John Stonehouse; Ex-British Aide, 62, Faked Death in '74 AP Published: April 15, 1988 SOUTHAMPTON, England, April 14— John Stonehouse, a novelist and former British Cabinet minister who faked his own death in 1974, died today of a heart attack, his wife said. He was 62 years old. Mr. Stonehouse collapsed early today at their home near Southampton, 70 miles southwest of London, and attempts by ambulance attendants to revive him failed, his wife, Sheila, said. He was declared dead at Southampton General Hospital, a spokesman, Andrew Clapper, said. In 1974, when he was a Member of Parliament whose business ventures were failing, Mr. Stonehouse went to Florida and faked his death by leaving his clothes on a beach and disappearing.

He was arrested two months later in Australia, where he was living under a false name, and was then extradited to Britain and tried on 21 charges of theft, fraud and deception involving more than $382,500. He was convicted in 1976 and sentenced to seven years, serving three before being released on parole. While in prison, Mr. Stonehouse suffered three heart attacks and underwent open heart surgery. He also was divorced from his first wife, Barbara. In 1981, he married his secretary, Sheila Buckley. Mr. Stonehouse was a Member of Parliament for the Labor Party from 1957 to 1974. He served in a Labor Cabinet from 1967 to 1970 as Aviation Minister, Minister of State for Technology, Postmaster General and then Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. He wrote three novels, all thrillers. He is survived by his wife, three children from his first marriage and a son from his second marriage. Photo of John Stonehouse (AP) John Stonehouse - Politician - Peerie Profile John Stonehouse Most Popular John Stonehouse Videos Fire at St.

John Stone House 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 More Videos: Biography John Thomson Stonehouse (28 July 1925 - 14 April 1988) was a British politician and minister under Harold Wilson. Stonehouse is perhaps best remembered for his unsuccessful attempt at faking his own death in 1974. John Stonehouse (Politician) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News John Stonehouse Male Born Jul 28, 1925 John Thomson Stonehouse was a British Labour Party politician and junior minister under Harold Wilson. Stonehouse is perhaps best remembered for his unsuccessful attempt at faking his own death in 1974. More than twenty years after his death, it was publicly revealed that he had been an agent for the communist Czechoslovak Socialist Republic military intelligence.… Read More related links Rivieren Van Bloed !Uitkijk Google News - Aug 18, 2011 '<mark>John Stonehouse</mark> komt alle erkenning toe voor het inzicht dit te hebben waargenomen en de moed het gezegd te hebben.

Voor deze gevaarlijke en splijtende elementen biedt het wetsontwerp over de rassenverhoudingen (Race Relations Bill) precies de' Tale Of The Unexpected Thisday Live Google News - Jul 04, 2011 '(British parliamentarian <mark>John Stonehouse</mark>, for instance, faked his death thus in 1974, to marry his mistress. He didn&#39;t get away with it, and was eventually convicted for insurance fraud.) Likewise, the fiction is founded upon similarly convenient but' Mother In Law Email: Freddie Bourne, There's Only One Way Out Of This Mess Telegraph.Co.Uk Google News - Jul 01, 2011 'Freddie Bourne, you are too young to remember either <mark>John Stonehouse</mark> or the original version of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

Time is very short, so to spare you the bother of googling the former and buying the DVD box set of the latter,' Paint By Numbers Storm Still Too Clinical For Fumbling Warriors Sydney Morning Herald Google News - Jun 26, 2011 'It was as far from the truth as <mark>John Stonehouse</mark>&#39;s obituaries. The reality came later, when prop Adam Blair admitted that the Storm had smartly decided to navigate their way through the turbulent waters of Origin by doing what Melbourne do best' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of John Stonehouse. CHILDHOOD 1925 Birth Born on July 28, 1925. TEENAGE 1944 18 Years Old Stonehouse was in the RAF for two years from 1944 when he was called up. TWENTIES 1948 22 Years Old Stonehouse married Barbara Joan Smith in 1948, and they had two daughters, Jane and Julia, and a son, Mathew.

1952 26 Years Old An economist, he became involved in co-operative enterprise and was a manager of African co-operative societies in Uganda 1952â54. … Read More He served as a director (1956â62) and president (1962â64) of the London Co-operative Society. Read Less THIRTIES 1957 31 Years Old Stonehouse was first elected as Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) for Wednesbury in a 1957 by-election, having contested Twickenham in 1950 and Burton in 1951. 1959 33 Years Old In February 1959 Stonehouse travelled to Rhodesia on a fact-finding tour in which he condemned the white government of Southern Rhodesia. … Read More Speaking to the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress, he encouraged blacks to stand up for their rights and said they had the support of the British Labour Party. He was promptly expelled from Rhodesia and kept from returning a year later.

Read Less 1962 36 Years Old Stonehouse allegedly began spying for Czechoslovakia in 1962. … Read More He served as a junior minister of aviation, where he was involved in BOAC's order of Boeing 707 aircraft from the US, against his own recommendation that they should buy a British aircraft, the Super VC10. This led to his making accusations against colleagues about the reasons for the decision. In March 1968 he negotiated an agreement providing a framework for the long-term development of technological co-operation between Britain and Czechoslovakia. It provided for the exchange of specialists and information, facilities for study and research in technology, and such other forms of industrial co-operation which might be agreed. Read Less FORTIES 1967 41 Years Old While in the Colonial Office, Stonehouse's rise continued, and in 1967 he became Minister of State for Technology under Tony Benn and later Postmaster General until the post was abolished by the Post Office Act 1969. Show Less When the Wednesbury constituency was abolished in 1974, he stood for and was elected to the nearby Walsall North constituency.

… Read More Appointed to the new government, Stonehouse oversaw the introduction of first and second class stamps.<br /><br /> In 1969 Stonehouse was subjected to the assertion that he was a Czechoslovak secret service agent. He successfully defended himself, but the allegation was substantiated in the official history of MI5, The Defence of the Realm by Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew. In December 2010 it was revealed that then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had agreed in 1980 to cover up revelations that Stonehouse had been a Czech spy since the 1960s as there was insufficient evidence to bring him to trial. Until Ray Mawby, briefly a member of a Conservative government, was exposed in June 2012, Stonehouse was the only minister known to have been an agent for the former Eastern bloc. Read Less By 1974 most of these were in financial trouble, and he had resorted to deceptive creative accounting. … Read More Aware that the Department of Trade and Industry was looking at his affairs, he decided that his best choice would be to flee.

Secret British government documents, declassified in 2005, indicate that Stonehouse spent months rehearsing his new identity, that of Joseph Markhamâthe deceased husband of a constituent. Read Less Stonehouse maintained the pretence of normality until he faked his death on 20 November 1974, leaving a pile of clothes on a Miami beach. … Read More It appeared that he had gone swimming, and had been drowned or possibly killed by a shark. He was presumed dead, and obituaries were published despite the fact that no body had been found. In reality, he was en route to Australia, hoping to set up a new life with his mistress and secretary, Sheila Buckley.<br /><br /> Using false names, Stonehouse set about transferring large sums of money between banks as a further means of covering his tracks. Under the name of Clive Mildoon he deposited $21,500 in cash at the Bank of New Zealand. The teller who handled the money later spotted "Mildoon" at the Bank of New South Wales. Inquiries led the teller to learn that the money was in the name of Joe Markham and he informed the local police.

Stonehouse spent a while in Copenhagen with Sheila Buckley, but later returned to Australia, unaware that he was now under surveillance. The police initially suspected him of being Lord Lucan, who had disappeared two weeks before Stonehouse following the murder of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett. Investigators noted that the suspect was reading British newspapers that also included stories attacking the "recently deceased" John Stonehouse. They contacted Scotland Yard, requesting pictures of both Lucan and Stonehouse. Read Less Stonehouse was arrested on 24 December 1974. … Read More On his arrest the police instructed him to pull down his trousers so they could be sure whether or not he was Lord Lucan, who had a six-inch scar on his inside right thigh. He applied for the position of Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds while still in Australia (one of the ways for an MP to resign), but decided not to sign the papers.<br /><br /> Six months after he was arrested, he was deported to the UK, though he had tried to obtain offers of asylum from Sweden or Mauritius.

Read Less 1975 49 Years Old He was remanded in Brixton Prison until August 1975 when he was released and put on bail. … Read More He continued to act as an MP. Although unhappy with the situation, the Labour Party did not expel him. Read Less FIFTIES Show Less After his release, he worked as a volunteer fundraiser for the east London charity, Community Links from January 1980. … Read More He joined the Social Democratic Party, which later merged with the Liberal Party to become the Liberal Democrats. Read Less In June 1980 he was discharged from bankruptcy. 1985 59 Years Old Stonehouse wrote three novels, and made several TV and radio appearances during the rest of his life, mostly in connection with discussing his disappearance. In September 1985 he started a small business which manufactured electronic and hotel safes called Guestguard. … Read More It existed up to his death Read Less LATE ADULTHOOD

Question: Which politician faked his own death in Florida in 1974?
Answer: John Stonehouse